BEST WINE STORE (2006)

Hennepin-Lake Liquors

Some people only sip from Riedel's $40 hand-blown stems, while others buy the new Riedel line at Target. Some people see Bordeaux futures as a financial vehicle with which to amplify their cellars, while others use the term to signify that we hope for a future in which we drink more Bordeaux. Or, actually, any Bordeaux. For those of us with more taste than disposable income, for those of us who'd rather drink our bounty than display it, we love Hennepin-Lake Liquors. The prices, in our experience, are the best in the region. The selection is vast, decently organized, and, thanks to recently expanded Spanish and Italian sections, as global as it gets. And if you ask for help, you're more likely to be steered to a $6 Grenache or a $7 dry rosé than you are to find yourself on the receiving end of a fetishistic line of gobbledygook about this week's cult Cab. Taking home a pizza? There's an $8 Corbera Nero d'Avola from Sicily we're particularly fond of. A couple of greenbacks more gets you a Thai takeout-friendly Geisen Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. Yes, the aisles are Lilliputian and the parking lot a compelling argument against conceal-and-carry, but shopping here affords you a real wine education, one bottle at a time.